The Monkees, the television series, is a landmark one, despite it lasting only two seasons on the NBC Television network. That's because it directly lead to the what we all know as the MTV concept some thirteen years or so later: stylish videos with quick cuts, special effects, constant motion and having those sequences set to songs.Sometimes suggested as an attempt to "cash in" on the insane popularity of The Beatles, The Monkees: Davy Jones, Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork, were collectively referred to by some of the harsher critics of the day as "the Pre-Fab Four," a play on the "Fab Four" reference to the Beatles. The Monkees were a musical group created specifically for the show, which some felt made them inauthentic.The problem of the program is that it wasn't a video; it was a situation comedy, and a lot of the time the episodes were, if we're kind about it, a little light on scripting. In fact there was at least one episode without any script at all, and a few times where they didn't completely fill out their half-hour and had to pad the episode with other elements.What that meant was that the series was often an unsatisfying experience as a standard sitcom, because the plots frequently were weak or non-existent! Additionally, when there were solid scripts, they were pretty much lifted from old movies, Vaudeville acts, or parodied other programs being aired at the time - most of which wasn't terribly inspired and often wasn't that funny.To the good, they did utilize the "psychedelic" elements of the day, with brilliant colors, sets and costumes, which is why their title sequence is still a timeless classic. The visuals were spectacular.Also, The Monkees, the musical group, had some pretty decent songs (after all, the writers of their tunes were people like Neil Diamond and Carole King!), and those performances were usually the highlight of every episode. If the scripts could have equaled the songs, this show would have been a smash.But to be fair, the era of the 1960s was a very odd combination of a lot of factors, not the least of which was drugs (hinted at but never directly suggested here), politics (which was emboldened by the programs like "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour) and youth and the pop culture movement. And certainly all of this had an impact on the the process of creating the program and the areas covered by the episodes.In its way, The Monkees captured a lot more of the flavor of that time than nearly every other entertainment program in that tumultuous age and it certainly deserves credit for that.

I was 9 or 10 years old when The Monkees debuted on NBC. I have been a fan ever since. I even saw them in concert during the summer of 1967. I was very peeved at not being able to hear them due to the screaming girls. I thought girls must be the dumbest creatures on earth, but of course I changed my feelings before long. They were still dumb as far as I could tell, but they were cute, too. I saw the Monkees again when three of them (minus Nesmith) reunited in the mid-eighties and late nineties. The Monkees have been unfairly ostracized for decades. "They don't play their own instruments", their critics complained. They were not allowed to play on their first two albums. Don Kirshner, their egomaniacal producer, wanted total control. This ultimately got him fired by the band. He released More of The Monkees without permission from the band. If that weren't bad enough, the album's liner notes were pure Kirshner. Kirshner's egomania is all too apparent. He shamelessly name drops and barely mentions The Monkees at all. Michael Nesmith put his fist through a wall when the band met with Kirshner later. According to Micky Dolenz, Nez snarled, "That coulda been your face, motherf-----!" In any event, that was it for Kirshner as far as The Monkees were concerned. They finally had creative control of the music. For their third album, The Monkees Headquarters, they played on every song with minimal outside accompaniment. They credited the extra 2 or 3 musicians in the liner notes, something other bands (Beatles included) were not so forthcoming about. Micky Dolenz has never gotten the credit he deserves as a great rock vocalist. Just listen to No Time, Randy Scouse Git, Going' Down, Words, Pleasant Valley Sunday, etc. Each Monkey had talent. Micky had a great voice, Mike Nesmith was a good singer and musician, Peter Tork played about a dozen instruments, and Davy Jones was a superb showman and a pretty good singer. About 20 years ago, there was talk of a Monkees TV special. Davy was explaining how it would be set up. "Mike would produce, Micky would direct, and Peter would be in charge of the music." "But what would you do?" Davy was asked. "I would be the star, of course, and get all the girls!" When I see some of the acts who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (the Sex Pistols?!) there is no doubt The Monkees deserve to be enshrined. They certainly are more deserving than many who are already in.

The Monkees was one of the most unique television shows ever created! The show featured great music and comedy that had people laughing for hours. All four of the guys were extremely talented and no one else could have taken their place. The show should be run more often so that today's generation of kids can enjoy them too.

Something for everyone, the Monkees is still funny and eye-catching today. They exemplified the sixties for a lot of people in my generation and I still love them today. Not only for the nostalgia but just for the fun of it all.